And this week's Friday night movie has been....The Searchers!
Once again I find myself facing down one of the titans: One of the oft-mentioned, undisputed classics, frequented-referenced-in-best-of-list of cinema. It's an intimidating prospect indeed but am i up to the task?
Well much has been written of Ethan, John Wayne's character, and how much he is, in fact, a racist. I won't deny that but I personally think that if the movie made me involved in the character's arc then it must've done something right. Having said that, what makes this movie compelling is that it's looking through the genre of the western through a grey lens. There are no black hats/white hats that are so common in the genre and honestly? The movie is all the better for it.
Ultimately however the real star of the movie is the setting. It may be shot in Utah Arizona but it never ceases to astonish. It's colossal, staggering and mind-slowing in it's bareness. There's no green-screen whatsoever and leaves a lot of modern movies for dead.
So yes facing this movie was indeed an intimidating prospect but it still holds up, even with the distance of sixty years (that final shot being a particular stand out). So in the end, this movie has a well-earned reputation.
Truly epic in every sense of the word.
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